1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved apparatus for reclaiming refrigerant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional apparatus for reclaiming refrigerant (see FIG. 1) mainly includes a refrigerant distillation tank 1 and a heat exchanger 2 for condensing refrigerant. An electric heater 11 is generally used for heating the refrigerant-to-be-reclaimed in the distillation tank 1. Then, the refrigerant turns to vapor and flows into the heat exchanger 2 in which the refrigerant is condensed to liquid. Finally, the refrigerant is filtered by a drier 3. Nevertheless, such an apparatus for reclaiming refrigerant has the following drawbacks:
1. As the refrigerant has a high latent heat value, it will be necessary for the electric heater to consume a large amount of energy in distillation. PA1 2. The refrigerant to be reclaimed usually includes refrigerating oil, water, acid and solid impurities wherein the refrigerating oil and refrigerant are soluble in each other. Hence, when the refrigerant to be reclaimed contains too much refrigerating oil, it will be necessary to heat the distillation tank to a higher temperature in order to distill the refrigerant. Meanwhile, the foams of the refrigerant and refrigerating oil produced in heating will make the eliminator mounted at an upper portion of the distillation tank lose its function, thereby causing the impurities to flow out with the refrigerant vapor. Consequently, it will be very difficult to control the output power of the electric heater of the prior art apparatus for reclaiming refrigerant. PA1 3. As the water-cooled heat exchanger must be connected to a cooling water supply, it will be very inconvenient to reclaim the refrigerant from the chiller units. Furthermore, the temperature of the cooling water will directly influence the speed of reclaiming refrigerant. As the temperature of the cooling water is high, the speed of reclaiming refrigerant will become slow. In the meantime, the temperature of the distillation tank will become higher. If the temperature of the electric heater exceeds a certain value, the refrigerant will be dissolved. PA1 4. It is impossible to separate water from the refrigerant in the distillation process. The refrigerant is only filtered by a drier and so it will become useless for the refrigerant containing a large amount of water.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for reclaiming refrigerant which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.